Frenemies
by TheCandyChild
Summary: Len Kagamine hated Miku Hatsune and vice versa. With Len being a victim of bullying and Miku causing some of the pain inflicted upon him, everyone knew they'd never get together. But when Len's sister comes back to her home town from Korea, not only does she work magic by making the two despise each other less, but she helps Len discover the true feelings and hidden side of Miku.
1. Chapter 1

**Len**  
It was a pretty day.

It was sunny and warm, the cloudless sky seeming bluer than ever. The sounds of children laughing and playing echoed around the park as they ran from each other, presumably playing tag. The tree leaves rustled as the wind blew gently, pushing strands of stray hair away from my face.

That's how I knew I was dreaming.

The town I live in is pretty much shit. From the people, to the weather, to the buildings. Of course, it's no surprise that I'd think that- I was a pessimist that hated nearly everyone and everything after all. Which is strange, since when I was a child, I was a bright kid that believed in Santa and the Easter Bunny and became friends with everything that breathed. Oh, how times have changed.

I turned to look at the girl sitting beside me on the park bench. Her chin-length blonde hair was down as usual, the front parts clipped back with several bobby pins. Her cerulean blue eyes, which were brightly watching the playing children, turned to me. "Beautiful day, right, Len?" My sister asked. I smiled at her.

"Surprisingly, yeah." I answered. Rin sighed, then smiled.

"I missed this place so much. I'm glad I'm here." She said.

"Me too," I said, smiling. She smiled warmly.

"Wake up, Len," She said. I blinked.

"Eh?" I asked, wondering I I misheard. Did she just tell me to wake up?

"Wake up. You're gonna be late for the bus." This was weird. _Bus?_ I thought. _What the hell?_

"Rin, I-"

"Len Kagamine, get your ass out of bed!" She roared, her voice morphing into my aunt Lin's. My eyes shot open, and I found my aunt leaning over me. Her black hair was tied into a short ponytail and her gray eyes looked impatient. I rubbed my eyes. It was strange for her to be here- she's supposed to be at work around this time.

"What...time is it?" I mumbled. I decided not to ask why she's here- it'd probably come out as plain rude or she'd take it the wrong way and give me some long lecture about respect or something like that.

"7:20." She replied. I shot up when I heard what time it was. The bus came at 7:35, which meant that I had only 15 minutes to make myself presentable, eat, and brush my teeth. Lin was dressed formally- in her work clothes. She held a dark blue purse and car keys. "You'd better hurry up, Len Kagamine. You better not be late for school."

"Yeah, I know." I replied as I snatched a white collared shirt from my closet. "Why didn't my alarm go off?!" I hissed as I hunted for a suitable pair of jeans. Lin huffed.

"You set it to 6:50 _p.m,_ stupid." She told me with an eyeroll. Aunt Lin wasn't unkind- she was usually playful like this and I'd gotten used to it by now. "It's weird how an honor student as smart as you manages to do this at least five times a month."

I decided to skip taking a shower- it would take too long and I could take one tonight anyways. I waved my hand frantically at Lin. "I gotta change!" I told her. She rolled her eyes.

"Kid, I've-"

"-changed my diapers a hundred times, I know, I know." I finished. "But I'm a teenager now! Can you _please_ go?" She shrugged, then opened a drawer and picked something out of it. She threw the article of clothing at me, which I caught. I looked at it to find that was a pair of striped boxers. I felt my face redden.

" _Auntie!"_

"What? You gotta have a clean pair of boxers. Besides-"

"Can I change in peace?! I'm gonna be late!" Lin waved her hand.

"Fine, fine. I gotta go, and I'm probably gonna be staying late again. I'm in a group project with a bunch of retards so I gotta do all the work and make sure we don't royally fuck up. You gonna be okay?" I nodded.

We said our goodbyes and she got into her car and drove off to work. After brushing my hair, changing, and brushing my teeth, I glanced at the clock to see if the bus already arrived. There was literally two minutes before it came. I decided to skip breakfast and ran outside.

I got onto the bus when it came, only to hear people whispering and snickering upon my arrival. I knew it was about me- I didn't exactly have a good reputation at school.

Not that I did anything bad, though. It started with passive aggressive comments from a few of the popular kids. I never knew why it started, but I mostly made it worse by reacting and sending back a few snarky insults. And that was when the bullying started.

The school's promotion to stop bullying and to tell an adult if you're being bullied did nothing to help. People were cruel assholes and telling an adult would probably make it worse for me. I'd probably be called a snitch or something. I heard a snicker as I passed.

"What, are you back in middle school?" Miku giggled, eyeing my outfit. Her teal eyes sparkled with amusement and slight disgust. I felt my mood drop upon seeing her. She may be pretty, but she was the queen of assholes.

"Are you retarded or something?" I spat back. She just smiled a carefree smile at me.

"It's not usually a good thing to talk to yourself, Kagamine." She chirped. I scoffed and rolled my eyes before shooting her a glare.

"If you had enough brain cells, you'd know that I was talking to you and not to myself." I called back to her as I headed to the back of the bus. Not caring to hear what other nasty comments she or any of her minions threw at me, I got out my IPod and yellow headphones. I put the headphones on, and the sweet, sweet sound of music flooded my thoughts.

It was like this every morning- get insulted, taunted, then I'd put on my headphones to block out what they had to say. What rumors were spreading around about me, the loner and freak. Later, as stupid as it sounds, I'd probably get beat up for any money I had, then I'd have to starve until I got home. Really, I hated this life. But it could be worse, so I suppose I should be grateful, right?

Though through it all, through the tough, smug, and happy facade I always wore, it all hurt. What they said about me. The gossip. The vandalism and mean notes on my locker. The humiliation. But then it'd usual convert to anger- who the hell do these assholes think they are anyways? What makes them think that they can belittle a person when they, themselves, are even more pathetic and pitiful?

Of course, I'm not saying that I'm _not_ pitiful and pathetic, because that'd be a lie. I accept the beatings without doing a thing in fear of getting hurt even worse, then everyone would know how much of a pushover and how weak I really am.

Bystanders that pitied me but never dared to be seen with me in fear of getting bullied often told me that one day I'd find some true love and then it'll all be okay. I wasn't stupid. I gave up long ago.

What's the point in it, anyways? It comes, it goes, and it leaves someone with a broken heart. Besides, why torment myself and waste time trying to find 'the one' if I'll probably just end up hurt again? I let out a small sigh as the bus came to a stop in front of the school, and I stood up.

I really fucking hated everyone.

* * *

I ripped up a note I'd received and threw it to the ground, jaw clenched. Rather than hurt bubbling up inside at the malicious words, I felt anger. Sometimes I wondered how long it'd take me to beat the shit out of someone and get expelled from school. Bottling up anger like this wasn't healthy, but I gave zero fucks about health.

"Um...do you know where Len Kagamine is?" A female voice softly asked. I turned around, putting on my signature smug smile. There was a girl in front of me with short blonde hair that was probably the same length as mine, large electric blue eyes, white shirt with some orange design, leggings, boots, and a large, white bow on her head. She looked awfully familiar, but I didn't spend too much time dwelling on it. I just wanted to go home and eat hot pockets or something.

"Yup. You're speaking to him right now." I said, cheerfully. Her face broke out into a grin.

"You've sure grown, Lenny. Oh my god, your voice has _totally_ deepened! You must have gone through puberty!" She squealed, jumping around. She had a slight accent, but from where I couldn't exactly place. It sounded distinctly…Asian? I blinked and studied her face, something suddenly clicking into place.

My throat tightened and I forgot how to talk for a moment "Rin?" I managed, after a few minutes. She grinned, then fixed her bow.

"Long time now see, Banana Boy."

 _ **Uwah, sorry for the lack of cover! I'm having some issues with my computer, but hopefully everything will start working soon...thank you for reading, by the way! Reviews on the chapter and criticism are more than welcome!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**~Miku~**  
I'm a coward.

That's the truth.

Picking on people and spreading misery because I was afraid that if I didn't, it'd happen to me was something I'd surely go to hell for.

I was probably crowned as the queen bitch of the school, but it couldn't be worse than getting tormented because I'm 'too nice.' That's how it worked with the group of people I hang out with- calling them friends would be far too much.

Of course, there was Len Kagamine. I'm still slightly puzzled as to why people hate him so much. He's very good looking and has amazing grades. Perhaps it was because of how brave and bold he was, talking back to his bullies with his razor tongue and sharp words. Maybe it was jealousy. I was absorbed in my thoughts that I accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oof!" The person said. She was a female, I could tell, with some sort of accent that I couldn't identify. I looked down to find a girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a white bow on her head on the ground. She was quite pretty, and she looked vaguely familiar. I blinked before smiling sweetly and helping her up.

"I'm sorry." I said in the warmest voice I can muster. I don't recall seeing her around, so I assumed she was new. Being nice to new, pretty people was an unspoken rule in the group. It was shallow and stupid, but I still complied nonetheless. I always feared that they might get mad and turn on me and spread horrible rumors. The girl smiled at me weakly.

"Ah, it was my fault. I'm sorry, it's just that I'm new to this school. Um, do you know where room 204?" She asked. I smiled brightly. I was right- she was new, which meant that she didn't know that I was the queen asshole of this school.

"I do. Actually, I was heading there right now. Mr. Mattson, right?" I asked. She nodded and grinned.

"Yeah! You mind if I…uh, walk with you?" I chuckled softly.

"Course not! C'mon, it won't be a good thing if we're both late."

"Oh. Thank you so much. What's your name?" She asked. I smiled back at her as we walked in the classroom.

"Miku Hatsune," I replied, giving a small bow. She sighed.

"What a nice name," She complimented, "I guess I'd better introduce myself in front of everyone...but the name's Rin." I nodded, then walked to my seat, sitting down. I glanced at the empty desk to my right, then at Kaito, one of the most well-known jocks and fuckboys at the school, who was at my left. He smiled at me, and I smiled back. He seemed bearable most of the time and acted nice towards me.

"New girl, huh?" He said, nodding towards the blonde. I nodded.

"Yep. She's pretty cool, too. Hey, I think I can extend the group a little more. They'd like her, I'm sure." I said. He grinned.

"Good luck," He chirped. Our teacher, Ms. Megpoid cleared her throat. She was a rather pretty woman in her mid 30's with thick, straight, sea green hair that went to her waist and olive green eyes. She wore an orange sundress with white flats.

"Attention everyone," Ms. Megpoid, said loudly. Immediately, all chitchat stopped and heads turned to see Rin standing in the front. I could see the boys swooning over her, and the jealous looks the girls gave her. Her hands trembled slightly, but other than that, she looked calm and collected.

"This is Rin Kagene. She came from Seoul, Korea, and will be joining us for the rest of the year. Please, take a seat next to Miku. Miku's the girl with the long, teal hair." Ms. Megpoid said. She nodded, then walked over to the seat next to mine and sat down. I smiled at her.

"Looks like we're partners!" I said. She smiled back and got her stuff out from her bag.

"Yeah! I lucked out, I guess." She chuckled.

Ms. Megpoid hushed us shortly afterwords and began to talk about some important moment in history. I couldn't help but steal a glance at Rin.

 _Where have I seen her before…?_

* * *

 **Rin**  
"Finally you recognized me!" I sighed. Len stared at me, blinked, then brushed his long, blonde bangs out of his eyes. He rushed forward, enveloping me in a hug. I hugged him back, feeling tears well up in my eyes. I haven't seen or heard from him in over 10 years. I guess it was just really overwhelming for me to finally see my twin brother, who has certainly changed since I was gone.

"What...what are you doing here?" He asked, pulling away.

"Uncle Rei just sent me to live with Auntie for now one. I don't know why, but…at least you're now blessed with my presence!" I said with another grin. He nodded, slowly.

"O-Oh. Does Lin know you're here?" He asked. I nodded, grinning as I remembered seeing her shocked face. I went to her workplace first to get the keys for the house and to let her know I was here. Surprisingly, nobody knew that I was coming back except for me and my uncle Rei.

"Mm-hmm. I already got the key to the house, and I might be a bit late coming back to the house. My friend's coming over. I dunno if you're perverted or not-"

"I'm not a perv!" He protested, his cheeks turning red. I snickered at his nervousness. Even as a child, Len was shy and easily flustered.

"Alright, little bro-"

"Three minutes, Rin. Three. Minutes." He told me with a glare. I rolled my eyes.

"Still older, though!" I laughed. "But really, it's been nice seeing you. Cya at the house," I said. He raised his eyebrows.

"You want me to wait with you?" He asked, brushing another golden lock behind his ear. His hair was quite long- longer than I'm used to. It was shorter when we were kids, but he somehow managed to pull off the slightly long and messy hair without looking like a hobo. I shook my head.

"No, it's fine." I said. He nodded uncertainly, then began to walk away. He waved at me, and I waved back, smiling faintly as I walked to the girl's locker room. Miku had P.E right now, so I imagined that's where she would be. After that, we were gonna go shopping, then to my place. Miku seemed really nice, and wanted to show me around town. Though I grew up living here, they've build and changed a lot of things and my memory of this place was a bit foggy.

I leaned against the locker room wall, sighing. Maybe I was being paranoid, or maybe I'm just assuming things. Maybe Len's just having a bad day or maybe he's just tired. But something told me that he's changed. And not the type of change where someone goes through puberty or grows up or something like that. It's more of a…sad kind of change. The kind of change that makes you question if that person's okay. The kind of change where you just _know_ something's wrong.

Terribly wrong.

* * *

 **Miku**  
I giggled as Rin unlocked the door, and we walked into the house. She was telling me a whole bunch of stories about her twin brother. Most of them were ridiculous and made me cringe from secondhand embarrassment, but they were still quite amusing nonetheless. I wondered if I knew her brother or not. We entered the house.

On a dark brown couch was a blanket over something. Or someone. Every minute or so, the person under the blanket would move. Rin nodded towards the shoe rack next to the door. "You can put your shoes there," She said. I nodded and I began to slip my flats off and put it in the shoe rack. I heard a loud _Thump!_ then a yell of surprise, followed by a giggle from Rin.

"Jesus fuckin' Christ, what the hell was that for?!" A male voice yelped. She snickered.

"Sorry!" She replied sweetly. I turned around, about to greet Rin's twin and _finally_ find out who it was. Then I stopped, my blood turning as cold as ice, shock making me freeze on the spot.

There, on the floor, was a boy with bright blue eyes and blonde hair that was normally tied into a ponytail, but was down now, and was the same length as Rin's, which was almost at her shoulders. His eyes widened when he saw me, and he scrambled up. We both gasped at the same time.

" _You!_ " We yelled in sync.

 **If you're wondering why Rin's last name is "Kagene" it's because she takes after Rei's last name, who basically adopted her for quite a while. The teachers see her as "Rin Kagene" so there's that. Plus, if she used her real last name, Miku and everyone else would be like "wait wtf i know that weird banana len kid he has the same last name-" so ye.**

 **alsO YEEEE I GOT THE COVER THING WORKING AGAIN YEEE. YE.**

 **Reviews are hugely appreciated and welcomed so please review! I sound so desperate and needy...cries.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Len**_  
Rin at down on the couch, staring at the coffee table, a confused expression on her face. I glared up at Miku, who was also glaring at me. "Why the hell are _you_ here?" I asked. Miku smirked.

"Rin invited me over," She replied. She squinted. "I take it _you're_ Rin's brother?" I snorted, then rolled my eyes.

 _"No,_ " I said, sarcastically, "I'm sleeping on the couch, and I look almost identical to her." Miku grit her teeth while Rin looked back and forth at us worriedly.

"Um, you two-" She started, but a angry Miku cut her off.

"You're such a smartass!" She snapped. I rubbed the back of my neck as I got up, using the wall as support. This wasn't supposed to happen. The queen of assholes and the one that orchestrated the torment I received wasn't supposed to be here. She wasn't supposed to be with Rin. I couldn't let her take Rin away and turn into one of the airheaded demons in her crew.

"Smartass? Thanks, being a smartass is one of my many talents. How many talents do you have? None." I spat. She scowled.

"I have many, you're just too dumb to notice it, asswipe." She snarled. I scoffed.

"You're right." I watched as her face turned into one of shock. "You do have a talent- it's being a shallow, self-centered bitch that's great at ruining lives." Her face flushed red.

"Douche..."

"Slut."

"Arrogant jerk!"

"Bitch." Miku's hands curled into fists.

"You-" She stomped her foot down. "Argh! You piss me off!"

"I can live with insults as petty and weak as those," I answered truthfully, "unlike you, the little spoiled princess over here." Her nostrils flared.

"Why you-" Rin slammed her hands down on the coffee table. She looked at us both with a look of disappointment, and my heart sank for a split second when I realized what she was thinking, or what she was remembering. Our parents.

"Stop! Stop fighting!" She said, her face pale. The room was quiet, Miku and I standing in a surprised silence. Miku hasn't seen Rin like this, and I have. Only a couple times, though. Rin was never actually upset unless something serious happened. Rin sat there, her hair covering her eyes from view. She stood suddenly.

"I-I gotta go to the store." She said quietly. Before either of us could say anything, Rin was already out the door.

"Shit..." Miku muttered. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.

"She doesn't like to see her friends argue." I explained, giving her a wary look. "Not that I'd consider you one, anyways." Miku shot me a glare that I was used to seeing.

"Same here, Kagamine." I gave her an annoyed look.

"Whatever. I'll go after her. You stay here." I ordered. I stood up and walked to the shoe rack to put in my shoes.

"Fine, whatever." Miku muttered. I finished tying my right shoe.

"Don't snoop around my room. The bathroom is upstairs, second door on the right side." I informed her. She crossed her arms.

"Where's your room?" I gave her a dirty look. Didn't she hear what I said about not going into my room?

"Yeah, no. I'm not ready to have my privacy invaded by one of my bullies." I snorted. For a moment, I saw a flash of shame and regret in her eyes, but that quickly went away. I dismissed it as her feeling guilty for fighting with me in front of Rin. She wouldn't feel pity for me.

"Anyway," I continued, "Rin seems to really like you. I think. I haven't seen her in, like, 10 years." I said, recalling how she dragged me off of the couch. Usually, she would act like a sweet little angel in front of her friends, but in front of her close friends, she'd act like herself.

"Good. She's really nice and fun to be around." Miku said. I nodded. Rin was a fun person to hang around, I'll admit. Though I was the quiet, timid one that preferred to stay inside and read, Rin always wanted to go outside and play with the other kids, or go on adventures. She'd always come back, her clothes stained with grass stains or dirt or something else. It was a bit odd, really. It was like the roles were switched.

"Yeah. Don't ruin her. But, anyways, she really hates arguments for reasons I won't say. So, let's at least _try_ to act nice to each other," I said. I got up and walked to where she sat. I sighed.

I wanted anything than to be friends with Miku Hatsune. But if it was for Rin, I'd do it. I extended my hand reluctantly. "Frenemies?" The words barely managed to get through my mouth. She stared at my hand, then cautiously shook it.

"Fine," Miku said. "I still hate your guts, but..."

"Frenemies."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Miku**_

The door opened, and I looked over to find Rin & Len. I sighed in relief, got up, and hugged Rin. "Ah, jeez! You worried me there for a sec." I said. She chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that." She replied. "I'm just not so used to… _this_." I smiled sheepishly.

"Really, I should be the one apologizing for insulting your brother." I said, glancing at Len. He looked slightly surprised, but he didn't say anything. He walked into the kitchen, opened a bottle of water, and began drinking. "I was a bit surprised, and I usually blurt things out before I can decide if I should or not." Rin gave me a small smile.

"So you're still sleeping over, right?" She asked. Len, who had wandered back to the area where Rin and I currently stood, nearly did a spit take but ended up choking on his water instead. Rin patted him on the back until he finally spoke, giving him a strange look.

"She's spending the _night?"_ He coughed, his voice turning high in the end and cracking. Rin giggled. I had to hold back a giggle of my own at his sudden voice change, because if I didn't I'd probably earn myself a death glare.

"Ah, I see that you're _still_ going through puberty? Jeez. And, yeah, she is." Rin said, grinning brightly. Len looked horrified.

"No _way_ she's spending the night in _our_ house-" I shot a glare at Len, silently reminding him of our agreement. We made eye contact, and he cleared his throat then looked back at Rin.

"...I mean, it's so dirty! I didn't have any time to clean up." He said with an awkward smile. Rin raised her eyebrows.

"Since when do you clean the house?"

"Uh, since _forever_."

Rin rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm sure Miku won't mind. Right?" She looked at me and naturally, I smiled at her.

"Not at all." I replied. Rin nodded and looked back at Len.

"See? She doesn't care." Rin told him. Len sighed. "Wanna go to my room, Miku? Len probably has to do something that dorks usually do."

"Y-Yeah! Sure!" I said as Rin pulled me up the stairs. When I looked back at Len, he had a exhausted expression on his face and was rubbing his temples, grumbling something about him not being a dork. A total lie, if you ask me. Rin opened the door to a room, and shoved me inside, and closed the door behind her.

Her room was spacious, and the walls were painted orange. There was a king-sized bed, and a flatscreen TV across from us. A guitar was in the corner, a music stand holding what I assumed to be sheet music next to it. A circular white rug was under the bed and covered about two feet of the floor that was away from the bed. I had a bit of trouble wrapping my head around how large the room was, and no doubt how expensive it must've been to put it all together.

"Jeez, this is big." I said. She shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess." She replied. "My aunt is a doctor and musician. Len says that she's rarely here because of how insanely busy she is, but she makes a lot of money." Rin's face brightened, and she jumped on the bed.

"How do you feel about video games?" She asked mischievously.

* * *

"Shit!" Rin sighed. It was currently midnight, and we've been playing _Diablo III_ for about three hours, now. Rin paused the game and yawned. Her gaze drifted towards me, then somewhere behind me

"M-Miku..." She whispered, her face pale and a horrified look on her face. "B-B-Behind…you…"

"What?" I asked, as I turned around, kinda scared to see what awaited me. I froze. There was a huge, brown spider on the wall next to the door. Rin whimpered as it crawled further up the wall. We were fairly far from the spider, but it didn't make it any less scary- the thing was _huge_. By huge, I mean that I could easily be the size of the palm of my hand. I tried not to scream. How did such a beast get in the room, much less the _house_?

"W-What do we do?!" I whisper-screamed. I hated spiders with a fiery passion, but that didn't overcome my intense fear for the creatures. "I-It's blocking the door…"

"D-Don't panic, I'll just text Len to kill it," She whispered. I nodded, slowly, as she took out her phone. I looked over her shoulder as she texted someone named _Banana Brother_ with a few red heart emojis at the end.

 _Rin: Len_

 _Rin: Len_

 _Rin: Len waKE UP_

 _Rin: COME ON PLEASE_

 _Rin: PLEASE_

 _Rin: PLEAAASEEEE._

From a room next to us, I could hear a phone chiming loudly. He replied shortly after.

 _ **Len: O my gdo WHT**_

 _Rin: Help us pls_

 _ **Len: It's midnight**_

 _ **Len: I'm tired wht do u want fRom mE?!**_

 _Rin: There's this big ass spider in our room. I'm scared. Miku is scared._

"H-Hey…I think it's a…wolf spider, or something…" I muttered.

 _Rin: Miku says it might be a wolf spider, help me, I don't want to die._

 _ **Len: lmao wolf spiders are hella big and fast. Like Sonic fast. Ur on ur own, im not risking it im going back to sleep.**_

 _Rin: OMG NO_

 _Rin: LEN PLEASE_

 _Rin: I'M GONNA CRY_

 _Rin: I'LL DESTROY ALL THE BANANAS IN THE WORLD DAMMIT_

 _Rin: I'LL MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP IF YOU DON'T KILL THIS SPIDER_

The door opened, and Len came in. His hair was down and messy, and he rubbed his eyes, dragging what looked like a vacuum behind him. He wore a black button-up shirt that went down to his knees, the top unbuttoned slightly and the left collar sticking up. He snickered.

"Jeez, take a joke." He said, yawning.

Rin gave him a disgusted look, and I just stared. "Where the hell are your pants?!" He blinked. _His legs look better than mine…what the fuck…_

"Calm down, I'm wearing boxers. Besides, I always sleep like this, get over it." He snickered as he plugged the vacuum in. He paused to look at me and smirked. "Close your mouth, you're drooling, Hatsune." My face burned.

"Sh-Shut the hell up, I'm not drooling or checking you out!" I snapped.

He chuckled. "Whatever you say." He looked around. "Where the hell is that killer spider you woke me up for?" Rin nodded towards the door, then stopped. The spider wasn't on the wall, where we last saw it. _Oh no._

"It's...not there anymore?" She whispered. Len shrugged.

"Maybe it's on another wall?" He suggested. Rin stood up, slowly, and so did I. She let out a scream and jumped on the bed, pointing at the spot near my foot. She gathered up the top blanket on her bed and hugged it close. I looked down, slowly. The spider was there, crawling straight towards my right foot. I let out a shriek and jumped on Len, who somehow managed to catch me. He grunted, and I whimpered as I constantly shifted about in his arms, clinging to him for dear life.

He was carrying me bridal style, which might've looked a bit weird to others, but I was freaking out so I didn't really care. That thing almost went on my foot, can you blame me? "Miku, for God's sake, I can't catch the thing if you're clinging to me like this! Get down!" I shook my head and buried my face in the crook of his neck, too scared to look anywhere in fear the spider would be waiting.

"No! It's scary!" I whimpered. He gave an irritated sigh.

"Then get on the bed!"

"What if it's _on_ the bed?!" Rin let out a scream at my words.

"Don't say that!" She screeched, diving under the covers. Len groaned.

"Miku, I can't get the damned thing if I'm holding you like we just got married!" My cheeks flushed.

"But I'm scared to get off!" Len gave an agitated sigh at my words. The whole situation was chaotic. Rin was trembling under the sheets, screaming at Len about the incoming spider. I was clinging to Len, trembling and pleading for him to not let me go while he dodged the surprisingly quick spider, yelling at me to get off.

"For God's sake, Miku, the spider is _not_ on the bed!"

"How do you know?!"

"Because Rin's on it, and it's right-" Len cut himself off, face turning blank. "Oh, fuck. Where'd it go?!"

"Behind you!" I screeched, spotting the spider immediately. Len turned and yelped at the rather large spider.

"Oh, shit!" He grabbed the vacuum and turned it on, taking his hand off my back to grab the handle of the vacuum. The spider raced away when the incoming vacuum neared towards it, but after a lot of struggling, Len's pursuit finally paid off when the beast was sucked up by the merciless vacuum.

Len sighed in relief and set me down, at long last. "Didn't know you were so clingy, Hatsune." He grumbled, rolling his shoulders and shutting the vacuum off. "Well, if it's even alive, it shouldn't be getting out any time soon. I'll get rid of it tomorrow."

"Spiders are freakin' scary! You can't blame me…" I muttered. He rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"Whatever you say." He replied. He walked over to unplug the vacuum. "Thanks for the horrifying and traumatic experience, dearest sister." Rin emerged from her blanket fortress, giving Len a toothy grin.

"It wasn't so bad!"

"You weren't the one facing it!" Len defended. Rin sighed.

"Oh, but didn't you get to hold Miku?" Len sputtered.

"That- That made up 50% of the horrifying experience!" He snapped with red cheeks.

"Why is holding a pretty girl horrifying?" I grumbled. He gave me an irritated look.

"When did I say you were pretty?"

"So you're calling me ugly?!" For a moment, Len was speechless. I could see that he was trying to conjure up a response to what I had just said. Then, finally, he replied,

"I should've dropped you on the spider…"

 _ **so, like I did with another one of my stories on here (Hardened) I'm taking this from my Wattpad/Quotev account and I'm editing it (I wrote it a really long time ago and it was so bad omfg) so updates will be pretty quick until chapter chapter 12 is published on here, because that's where I left off.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Miku**

When I woke up from a dream that I can't remember, the first thing I heard was Rin letting out a yelp before a loud _thump_. I sat up, alarmed, rubbing my eyes. I was still tired, but the sight of Rin on the floor, face-down, made me wake up a little. "What are you…doing?" She rolled over so she was on her back. She looked up at me, her blue eyes unfocused, as she grinned.

"Ehehe, nothing!" She giggled. She shot up, quickly, and stood. I blinked, gazing at her. At least she wasn't hurt…?

"Ugh...what time is it?"

"1," She replied, twirling around the room as if she were a ballerina. My eyes widened. I never usually woke up so late- usually somewhere between 9 and 11. But, to be fair, I usually went to bed at a decent time to get some beauty sleep. Last night, however, was an exception. Rin and I spent so much time chatting that we fell asleep around 4.

"Damn. It's not even morning…" I muttered with a sigh, brushing my tangled hair with my fingers. I wasn't much of a peaceful sleeper. "But that won't stop me from being hungry."

"Mm-hmm! Let's go downstairs and decide what's for breakfast!" Rin sang as she opened the door. She paused. "Well…lunch, I guess." She skipped downstairs. I raised my eyebrows. _I wonder what's up with her_. Rin had told me that she was terrible in the morning, but she seemed quite…chipper.

"I didn't think you'd be so hyper, Rin." I told her. She was rummaging through the fridge, surprisingly quick at doing so. "You said you reacted terribly to mornings. Are you always like this?" She poked her head out from behind the fridge door, a toothy grin present on her face.

"Nope! I woke up at 10 and had a lot of candy." She giggled. She straightened, suddenly, and slammed the fridge door, making me jump at the loud noise. "Pancakes!" She gasped. "Do pancakes sound great to you?!"

"Sounds good." I said as she took a frying pan out and pancake batter.

"Okay! Len makes, like, the _best_ banana pancakes. Or so I've heard. Hey, can you go wake him up? His room's next to mine," She said. Rin was currently trying to reach the top shelf of the cabinet. Keyword, _trying_.

"You need help with that…?" I asked. She shook her head and jumped onto the counter. "O…kay, then. Don't fall and hurt yourself." I awkwardly called back as I shuffled up the stairs, quietly. I didn't even bother knocking when I reached Len's room. He was probably still asleep anyways. I opened the door, peering inside.

Len's room was as big as Rin's. The walls were white, music notes ranging from the treble clef to 32nd notes painted onto them all around the room. On the hard-wood oak floor was a round, white carpet under a bed with yellow bed sheets. There was a piano near the wall and a bookshelf packed with books next to it. A dark oak desk was in the corner, what looked like a flute case on top. In the corner behind me was a viola case resting against the wall, a stand holding a single piece of sheet music on it. The desk was littered with paper, presumably sheet music.

 _Looks like he has a thing for music,_ I thought. I recalled the guitar in Rin's room and the similar music stand that stood nearby. _Guess it runs in the family or something._ Myself, I loved music, but the only instrument I've successfully learned to play was the guitar. I wasn't great with controlling my air (which is probably why I'm not in the school band, though the percussion looked tempting to play) so wind instruments were out of the question. I dabbled a bit in piano playing, but it was quickly forgotten as I entered high school. I looked over at the bed.

It was a mess of blankets, and there was a human-sized lump under them making the sound of soft, barely audible snoring. I walked quietly over there and pulled the bed sheets off. Len, curled up in a ball, clutched a bright yellow notebook in his hands. A pencil was behind his ear, and his mouth was slightly open. He twitched in his sleep.

"No...it's _my_ road roller," He muttered. I couldn't help but snicker. He was dreaming of road rollers? What a weirdo. I gently shook her shoulder. He gave a small grumble and rolled over.

"Go away, Gumi, I'm tired!" He mumbled. I froze. Gumi? Who was that? I didn't recall Len hanging out with anyone named Gumi. Scratch that, I don't recall Len hanging out with _anyone_ in general.

"Sorry to break it to you, but I'm not your girlfriend," I said, smirking. His eyes shot opened, and he looked at me with wide eyes. He let out a small, high-pitched scream and scrambled back until he actually fell off the bed. He came back up, holding a banana like a gun.

"S-Stay away, monster!" He said. He blinked, studying me closely. "Oh. It's just you." He said. I snorted.

"Gee, thanks." I snapped, trying to fix my bedhead. I know my hair was messy, but it wasn't _that_ bad…I think. I looked down at the notebook and picked it up. "Hey, what's thi- ow!" I said as I felt some object hit my shoulder. It was a banana. I glared at Len, who was now holding _another_ one.

"What the hell?" I snapped. "Why do you have so many bananas?"

"Food is like my anti-depressant." He replied. "I have many more." I gave him a strange look.

"Jeez, I don't suppose you have a mini freezer too?" He looked down.

"Maybe..." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Why'd you throw that at me?" I asked.

"Because I don't want you to read what's in there. Why'd you come up to my room?" He asked.

"Rin asked me to get you up so you can make pancakes. Hm, I wonder what's in here?" I asked, glancing at the notebook, which was at the middle of the bed. Len looked up at me, and we both lunged for it at the same time. Len managed to wrestle it away from me, but I refused to give up. I climbed on top of him and tried to reach for the notebook.

"Gimmie!" I yelled, probably sounding childish.

"No!" Was Len's reply. This went on for about a minute. A full minute. Just to see what was in a notebook of who knows what. Was it worth it? I don't know. Probably.

"What the hell?!"

Rin stood at the doorway, staring at us with a shocked expression. Len was under me, arm outstretched, trying to keep me away from whatever secrets he held in the notebook, while I tried to slide the notebook out from under his back. Needless to say, the position was an awkward one to be caught in. But despite that, Rin said only one thing.

"So...you gonna make breakfast or what?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Miku**  
"So, who's Gumi?" I asked as Len put a plate of pancakes in front of me. After that awkward moment of Rin catching Len and I fighting over the mysterious notebook, Len decided to eventually grant Rin's wish and make his so-called "famous" pancakes. I won't lie, though. The pancakes looked really good…

"She was a friend of mine. She was Ms. Megpoid's daughter. I'd rather not talk about it." He replied. He wasn't quiet or anything, like I thought he'd be considering he referred to her in the past tense. Instead, he casually poured maple syrup on his pancakes as if he wasn't bothered at all. Rin raised her eyebrows and shoved a forkful of pancake in her mouth.

"Wha-"

Len cut Rin off nearly as soon as she opened her mouth.

"Swallow before you speak. I can see everything in your mouth, and it's _not_ a pretty sight," He said. Rin shot him a glare, but proceeded chewing and eventually swallowed. I stared down at my own pancakes- I haven't even touched them yet.

"Mom was right," She said, grinning. Cautiously, I cut a piece off from the pancake, silently praying that Len didn't "accidentally" spill any bleach into mine. "Your pancakes _are_ the best. Jeez, even when we were little kids, you'd make the best sandwiches. Say, I wonder where you got your cooking talent from," She said. Len shrugged, and I popped the piece into my mouth.

And, boy, it was the best decision I've ever made. They were probably one of the best pancakes I've ever eaten. Bleach or not, I decided to eat the rest greedily.

"It's not really a talent," He said.

"I smell bullcrap," I chimed in, cutting yet another piece off. "This is pretty great." Rin nodded. We chatted for a little bit in between bites until there was nothing left on the plate except maple syrup.

"Is Elphonse park still here?" Rin asked curiously. Len nodded. Elphonse park is one of those special town hangout places. It's been there since the beginning of time, and it was actually nice. There were a lot of trees and even a small garden nearby a few benches and a playground with woodchips substituting as the ground. I may or may not still play at the park sometimes.

"Mm-hmm." He said, leaning against the fridge. Rin's eyes brightened.

"Thank God!" She exclaimed. "Let's go there when we finish eating! You, me, and Miku!" She said. I smiled. He rolled his eyes.

"Sounds nice," I said. Len, on the other hand, seemed to disagree.

"No thanks. I have a book series series to finish," He said. "Plus, I hate the outside."

I snorted. "You're not very active, are you?" Len wrinkled his nose as he took our plates.

"God, no. Plus, there's too many bugs and people everywhere. I'd much rather stay inside, in my lonely, lonely little corner devoid of any pests." Rin rolled her eyes.

"C'mon, Len!" She whined. "You need some sun! You're as pale as snow! It wouldn't hurt to get fresh air." He snorted.

"But there's air inside." He pointed out. "Besides, I'll just open a window if I want fresh air." Rin sighed.

"Please? I've been gone for, like, ten years! Can't we at _least_ talk at the park? It's a nice, warm day, after all! Warm days here are as rare as you finding a girlfriend." He glared at her, then sighed in defeat afterwords.

"Whatever..." He mumbled. "When are we going?"

"Preferably right now." She said with an innocent smile. I jumped in surprise at her words.

"Len and I aren't even dressed!" I protested. Rin gave me a mischievous look and winked at Len, who put his head down on the counter, covering his face. He groaned, and I eventually realized what Rin had meant.

"Oh, you guys are so perverted!"

* * *

"Kaito!" I called, running towards the blue-haired male. I texted him when I found out that we were heading to the park. It would be a great opportunity to introduce him to Rin. He did, after all, want to meet her. Though I was a bit iffy on him meeting her, I decided that I'd stand by and guide Rin to the best path for her.

"Hey, Miku." He said. I smiled back at him, my stomach churning. Kaito was, in my opinion, one of the best-looking boys in the school. But usually, that comes with a price. He was kind of a player, jumping from girl to girl every month, or sometimes weeks. He'd charm them, make them feel special, shower them in love, get them in bed, then break their heart.

He was kind of a man-whore and asshole. But he was my childhood friend, and I like to think that he genuinely likes me

And, I may or may not have a tiny crush on him.

"Hey," I said, brushing a lock of my teal hair behind my ear. The sun was shining brightly and it was actually a pleasant temperature with the exception of a very light, cool wind. The park was mostly empty, the long metal slide and see-saw devoid of any children. A stone pathway circled around the park, while a few large trees loomed over certain areas, providing shade and coolness. I remember always climbing those trees when I was younger. And even when I fell, I would always start back up again after a few days.

"So how's it going with Kagamine?" He asked, tilting his head slightly, as if he were genuinely curious and had good intentions.

"It's going well. I actually like Rin. She's really funny and energetic. Oh, she's here too, you know. I can introduce you two." He grinned, his eyes shining brightly, and my stomach churned once more. This time, it wasn't so pleasant.

"I'd very much like that," He said, chuckling softly. I turned around, scanning the area until I spotted two heads of blonde hair. Considering that the park was near empty, it wasn't a very difficult task. Rin & Len were near a large birch tree not too far away from where Kaito and I conversed. Len was leaning against the tree, saying something I couldn't hear with an eye roll. Rin laughed at whatever he said, and Len smiled warmly at her and said something else. Rin shot him a glare this time, cheeks aflame, as she violently and mercilessly slapped Len's arm and neck. He recoiled and even I could hear his yelps of pain. Kaito narrowed his eyes at him.

I stole a glance at Kaito- why was he giving Len such a harsh and malicious look? It was even worse than usual. The fact that I could say that it was worse than usual made my heart drop for a moment.

"-Len." Rin said. That was all I could hear as we trotted closer and closer to them. It was Len's turn to blush at whatever she said, and he stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking down at the floor. I couldn't help but acknowledge how...innocent, maybe...he looked. He looked like a little flustered tsundere that was just flattered by someone. And, for once, he looked genuinely happy.

"T-That's no good reason to beat me up!"

"Rin!" I called, grinning. She turned towards me and smiled. Her gaze turned to Kaito, but it wasn't filled with lust or 'love' like all the other girl's gazes were, but innocent curiosity. I found it refreshing that she didn't want to immediately marry him on the spot like the others. But, then again, Rin Kagamine didn't come close to the other girls at all.

"Who's this?" She asked, tilting her head a little to the left. Kaito smiled at her warmly; he was trying to work his charm on her, as if he was a snake charmer and Rin was the snake. However, it didn't work. Her expression didn't change one bit.

"This is Kaito Shion, a friend of mine since elementary. Kaito, this is Rin Kagamine, a new friend of mine that came from Korea." Kaito extended his hand. Rin took his much larger one, and they shook. Rin smiled up at him, but it was a good-natured smile, no trace of anything remotely negative.

"Pleasure to meet you," He said.

"You too, Kaito!" She said, grinning. She turned to Len, who seemed a little tense and was staring at Kaito. His eyes were calculating, as if he were trying to figure out a rather difficult equation. Then, as if he found the answer to said equation, his eyes lit up. No, it wasn't in happiness or excitement. It was in _anger_."This is-"

"We know each other." Len interrupted, his words cool and smooth. Kaito smiled at him, a smile full of mischief. His amused eyes regard Len coldly and disgustedly, and Len looked back at him calmly. Light, sky blue eyes filled with hate and anger stared into dark, midnight blue eyes filled with disgust and smugness. I could feel the tension, though Rin seemed blissfully unaware, by some miracle.

"Nice to see you here, _Len."_ Len took his hand, and Kaito squeezed his hand as they shook. He gave him a sickly sweet smile, which Len did not return.

Len withdrew his hand gladly.

"It's quite the coincidence isn't it, Shion?"


	7. Chapter 7

******Len**  
"What a nice purse. It looks expensive. It'd be a _shame_ if something happened to it," I said, doing my best not to glare at the wretched monster in front of me. This- the passive aggression between the two of us- has been going on all day. It was a miracle that Rin didn't notice the badly-hidden threats Miku and I exchanged. After the park incident involving Kaito, I noticed Miku giving reports to her group of friends about Rin, most of which I have eavesdropped shamelessly. I suppose they thought she had potential to become a bloodsucker like them, and were using Miku to try to convert her. Not on my watch.

Most new transfer students were silently offered a spot in the cool kid's group, especially if they were attractive and well-liked. Miku had tried to offer, several times, in fact, to introduce Rin to her group of jerkwads, but I managed to get her to steer clear. For now, at least. Miku would just have none of it, and just _won't_ stop trying. It was as if she _wanted_ to take my last remainder of happiness away from me and turn her into the type of girl I despised. And so, any friendly feelings I had for the teal-headed asswipe vanished and was immediately replaced with anger and outrage.

My eyes flickered to the chocolate colored Louie Vuitton purse. It was nice looking, with its' golden colored handles and lighter brown designs. I figured that it must have cost a lot, and Miku, being a snotty rich kid, I was sure that she had no problem getting it. Still, thought, it was nice to see the horror in her eyes as soon as she got what I meant. I just gave her an innocent look as Rin gave us confused and strange gazes. Miku grit her teeth as Rin took out a container of food, presumably Korean, two stainless steel chopsticks, and a spoon.

"Yes, it would," She said, a forced smile plastered to her face. She eyed my lunch, which was the school's notorious spaghetti, garlic bread, and green beans, all in different compartments of the school's small lunch trays. "Mm, I bet you're real hungry," She said after hearing my stomach growl loudly, "and that lunch looks really good. I hope I don't _accidentally_ knock it over, me being so clumsy and all." I narrowed my eyes and looked down at my plate, then at Miku with a glare as strong as steel.

"I also hope you _don't_ ," I said, my voice coming out gravelly due to me trying not to make it sound like a growl. "Because if you do, then some of the food might get onto your white, costly-looking shirt." She clenched her jaw, and opened her mouth to retort something back, but Rin coughed loudly.

"Guys? Are you, like, pissed off at each other or something? 'Cause it looks like you two are 'bout to murder each other." I turned my attention away from Miku and to Rin, who was in the middle of eating her noodles.

"No, no," I said. "We're not mad at each other. Because, we're... _friends_...after all," I bit out, nearly vomiting at the the dreaded F-word I'd used to describe our fake relationship. Miku, too, seemed horrified at the thought of us becoming buddies.

Guess that makes the two of us.

"H-Hey...Len...you really shouldn't do that..."

"I'll be fine."

"Really, it's okay. I can live without it. I can even get a new one-"

" _Don't."_ I called back, sternly, looking down at Rin, holding onto a tree branch. I looked up at Rin's signature big, white bow, which had gotten stuck near the top of a _very_ big tree, somehow. I was nearly half way and despite my churning stomach, I was determined to get it back to its' owner. "You _know_ how important that bow is, Rin." She frowned up at me, and I continued climbing.

The bow was a gift from our mom and dad. Our parents were killed in a bank robbery when we were 5. The last time we saw them, they were arguing over something stupid. I couldn't remember exactly what, but I do remember it making both Rin and I feel a little upset at the negative energy. I, myself, like to believe that this is the reason why Rin hates arguments so much, but I'm not entirely sure.

After the police officers came bearing the news of our parents' death, another argument broke out about who should take custody of us both. Aunt Lin and her husband at the time, Rei, were getting divorced and Rei was moving back to Korea. My father thought of Rei as a brother, and since they were so close, he'd also became very close to us. Finally, they came to an agreement, and it ended with Rei taking Rin away to Korea and Aunt Lin taking me into custody. Why, I don't know. The thought of separating two twins seemed a little…cruel. Something like that couldn't end well. Despite Aunt Lin wanting custody of me so much, I don't see her very often. She's almost never home, doing work, and when she is, she's either asleep or doing _more_ work.

"I know..." She called up, defeatedly. "Just...don't get hurt. If it's too much, come down. Don't push yourself." I nodded, remembering my last encounter with heights that scarred me even to this day. I heard someone clear their throat unnecessarily loudly and I looked down. Miku. I nearly forgot that the witch was here.

"While you're up there, mind getting my scarf?" I bit back a curse as I looked around, scowling and searching for the stupid teal and green scarf Miku was wearing earlier today. It was stuck to a tree branch at the very top of the god damn tree. Of course. Just my luck. I silently cursed the gods, wondering what the living _hell_ I did this time to deserve this. The world was going too easy on me today. Maybe I should have suspected that something would drag me down. After all, I couldn't be happy for too long, for whatever reason. It was almost like a punishment, but what I did to deserve it, I don't know.

Maybe my crime was just existing.

I shrugged, fearing that if I opened my mouth, something along the lines of _I do mind, because if I fall and die you'll probably be dancing on my grave_ would come out, and that obviously isn't the best thing to say in front of Rin after I assured her that Miku and I were friends. I looked up and began to climb. The trip up was nerve-racking, but despite my churning stomach and the desire to either chicken out or cry, I finally made it to Rin's bow. Almost. As I put my foot up to rest on a branch, it slipped.

I let out a yelp as I felt myself slip, and I held onto a sturdy branch for dear life as I heard my sister and Miku cry out. "Len!" Miku yelled. I turned around and looked down at her, giving her a tight, weak, and probably terrified looking smile, though it most likely looked like a grimace. I shifted, this time more carefully, and I caught a glimpse of the ground below me. It was then that I realized how high up I was. Oh, sweet mother Mary, how I wished I didn't look down.

My grip tightened on the sturdy branch as I stayed frozen in place, my muscles refusing to move and my brain declining the thought of thinking. My world began to spin, and I got dizzier and dizzier, my palms becoming clammy and sweaty, my breathing becoming more ragged and turned into more of a pant as I broke out into a cold sweat. Wild panic and fear filled my entire being, and I forced myself to look up at the sky, up to my destination. It was just in a stone throw's reach. I was vaguely aware of Rin & Miku yelling at me, telling me to come down and asking if I was alright, but it all sounded like I was underwater.

I flashed back to Miku's cry of distress. The fact that Miku sounded genuinely concerned for my well-being (or for the well being of her scarf, which was still at the top of the tree, but I came up with that theory later, when I wasn't nearly shitting my pants) surprised me and helped me keep a level head. I took a deep breath and looked up at the clouds, doing my best to focus on them and figuring out which shape it looked the most like. It was a method my dad taught me whenever I was panicking, which surprisingly happened a lot when I was small. I could practically hear his voice telling me to just look at the clouds and forget what I was afraid of.

The thought of my father calmed me down, and I finally found the courage to continue onward, and with my outstretched hand, I finally grabbed the bow. I exhaled loudly, and almost began to descend when I remembered that I still had to get Miku's stupid scarf and groaned quietly. "Fucking hell."

 _Don't look down, Len_ , I silently urged as I climbed upward, finding it a bit difficult with Rin's bow in my other hand. Of course, I could've just worn it on my head, but was that really a risk I was willing to take? Miku had a phone. With a camera in it. And lots of friends and social media. Deciding to save whatever little pride I had left, I didn't put it on. _Just think- when this is all over, you can go home and stuff your face with food and watch anime. Yeah, that sounds good._ _Lots and lots of food._

"Hey! Rin!" I called. Rin, who was biting her nails, looked up at me. "Catch!" I tossed the bow down, and thankfully, Rin caught it. She looked slightly relieved, but still very worried. Miku was pacing back and forth and looked up at me.

"Screw that scarf!" She yelled. "Just come down here before you severely hurt yourself or something!"

"But-"

"Shut up and get down here, you friggin' idiot!" She roared, her face pale. I was more than shocked at her words. _Miku?_ Worried for _my_ well-being? It almost didn't seem real- except, of course, it was.

She could just be pretending to care about me to look good in front of Rin. She could be trying to trick me into thinking that she was a decent person. Maybe she just didn't want to be questioned, or accused of my fall being her fault if I fell and got badly hurt.

But for some reason, none of those ideas seemed plausible to me. I didn't know why, but I decided to trust my gut. I took one more look at the scarf. It was so close. Just one more step up, one more, and I could get it. I sighed and hauled myself up, stepping on a sturdy looking branch as I took hold of the end of the scarf. How the actual hell did it even get up here? How did Rin's bow even get up here? I looked down, clutching the branch a bit tighter. If I were to fall...

No. I didn't want to think of that. I didn't want to have another stupid miniature panic attack, after all. I swallowed thickly. I had the scarf, and gave Rin her bow back. I was done. I can finally get down from this dreaded tree

Relieved to have finally reached my goal, I began to rush down. Worst mistake ever. I ended up stepping on a fragile, brittle branch, which broke under my foot. I let out a terrified, piggish sounding squeal at this.

The last thing I heard before falling back were the terrified screams of Rin & Miku.


	8. Chapter 8

**Len**  
The girly teal and green scarf that smelled like strawberries saved me. I never pictured myself saying that sentence, and I also never pictured myself _not_ crapping my pants as I fell to the ground from the top of a very high tree. I yelled profanities so bad that even sailors would wash my mouth, yet somehow managed to think something other than, _Fuck, I'm going to die._ Scraping up what little self control I had, I stuck my foot out and tried to grab onto the branches that I was falling on. They hit my back forcefully, almost as powerful as Rin's angered slaps that she so often gifted me when we were children. The ground was rapidly getting closer, and I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the impact.

However, it didn't come. Not the one I was expecting, anyways. There was a jolt, as if I were on a bungee line, and I noticed that my arms were above my head and felt like there were being pulled on. I opened my eyes and realized that I wasn't falling. I looked up and saw that the scarf that I held in both hands was hanging on a sturdy branch, with me holding onto it for dear life. I dangled there for a minute, thanking every force that was out there silently. I was still up kinda high, but if I were to fall, it wouldn't do any serious damage. It would hurt like a bitch, but I wouldn't fall into an eternal coma. I was so terrified at the time that I didn't even process that fact. I glanced back up at the scarf, a little baffled. _It's a miracle it didn't rip,_ I thought.

Of course, that's when it went downhill, and my luck ran out, because I just _had_ to jinx it. My left hand was slipping from the end. If I tried to let go and grasp it tighter, there was a chance that I'd fall. No way in hell I was taking that chance. I searched frantically for some kind of steady looking branch, but I wasn't fast enough. I shuddered, and began to focus more on Rin  & Miku's screaming.

"Rin!" I yelled. My hand was near the end, now. I decided to go against my earlier statement and try to get a better grasp. It was my only chance, my last shred of hope, of managing to get down safely. "The money's under the-" My hand fell, and I began to fall, too, Miku & Rin's terrified screams flooded my ears, and so did the silent amends I made.

 **Miku**  
I gasped, putting my hands over my mouth as Len fell to the ground with a loud _thump!_ "Len!" I screeched, rushing forward, along with Rin. He landed on his back, and as I knelt down next to him, holding his head on my lap, I noticed that his eyes were squeezed shut, then slowly, cautiously, they began to open again, revealing terrified sky blue eyes. Weakly, he held the scarf up with a visibly trembling arm, and I took it from it gingerly.

"'M not dead..." He mumbled, sounding quite surprised. I let out a sigh of relief. Rin squeezed his hand, teary-eyed. She sniffed.

"No," She mumbled. "But you _will_ be later when I kill you for making me worry." He wrinkled his nose, but a small smile still tugged at the corners of his lips. He looked up at me, blinking blearily.

"You're welcome," He muttered somewhat irritatedly. I huffed slightly, rolling my eyes, still a little awed and worried by his previous actions. Rin told me that, due to an incident when he was little, that he was deathly afraid of heights. Yet, he still went to the top of the tree to receive my scarf. He didn't even _like_ me. Hell, he was most likely would be that one person that'd cover me head to toe in bright red paint at prom as a prank and laugh like a maniac about it. So why would he get that scarf for me? I mumbled a quiet 'thanks' back, anyway.

He winced suddenly, and squeezed Rin's hand. "You okay?" Rin asked.

"You look pale. Slightly green, actually." I commented. "You better not puke on me."

"I'm not feelin' so hot," He grunted. He twitched, then rolled over before vomiting on the grass. I flinched at the noise, but still patted his back reassuringly and awkwardly, Rin whispering comforting words as she pushed his hair away from his face. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at the sight. He was here, in front of me, throwing his beloved lunch up all because of my scarf, though I was grateful that he got it back, anyways.

"Fucking hell," He mumbled when he was done, wiping his mouth. "I think, when I get home, I'm going to go lay in a fetal position and re-evaluate my life."

 **~3rd person POV~**  
Miku paused in front of Len's door. After the incident, Rin invited her to her home to hang out. It's been an hour since then, and Len hadn't come out of his room since. It was quite worrying, even for the teal-haired girl who despised him. She wrapped the scarf around her neck a bit tighter as she knocked on the door. A muffled "Come in," came from inside, so she opened the door.

She was greeted by the sight of Len, who'd gotten out of the shower about 10 minutes before, nearly completely enveloped in a large, fluffy looking, yellow fleece blanket. Only his nose and eyes were visible, and she raised her eyebrows. He shrugged, the pile of blanket on his shoulders moving up briefly before going back down.

The tealette closed the door behind her and shuffled toward the frowning blonde. "You look cold," He commented. Miku rolled her eyes, giving a small snort, though it was true; she was shivering, trying to keep her teeth from chattering too loudly. That day was a rather cold one, and the night time was even colder. Miku, being sensitive to the cold, was naturally feeling this decline in heat, despite being in a house and being sheltered from the outside. Len sighed, then rolled his eyes.

"C'mere," He sighed, unwrapping one side of the blanket he had tightly wrapped around him. He patted the spot next to him, despite the confused look Miku gave him.

"What?" She asked, a bit hesitant. After all, this _was_ the boy she'd been a jerk to for so many years, and now he was offering to…share a blanket with her, even when Rin wasn't around? She couldn't help but find it a little weird. He snorted, rolling his eyes once more.

"What, are you deaf?" He scoffed. "D'ya want to freeze to death over there? Get over here and accept my kindness- you'll probably never see it again, anyway, so cherish it." She frowned, but still obeyed, taking a seat next to him. He threw a large part of blanket over her, though he still had about half of it left, and she took one side and wrapped it around her trembling body while he held the other. She pulled part of the upper blanket over her head, like Len. For a minute, they sat there in silence, both comfortable and uncomfortable.

Miku noticed that it wasn't really the blanket that kept her warm- it was the body heat radiating off of Len. She scooted closer to him, hoping he wouldn't notice and say some snarky comment. He didn't.

He noticed it when she scooted closer to him, but said nothing. Under normal circumstances, he'd probably snort and say something rude or sarcastic, push her away, but for some odd reason, for the first time, he didn't look at her with dread and hate. In fact, he felt nothing. He stole a glance at her from the corner of his eye. The 16 year old was tightly wrapped in a blanket, nearly leaning against him but not quite, with the blanket covering the top of her head. To the blonde, she was almost cute. _Almost_. Len wasn't one to fall for Miku's charm so easily, like most boys.

"So whaddya want?" He finally asked after a minute. She rolled her eyes, frowning.

"What, can't I just stroll in here to say hi?" She mumbled. He scoffed.

"No. That'd be too nice for you," He mumbled the last part under his breath. Unfortunately for him, the tealette had excellent hearing and heard him straight away. She sighed tiredly.

"Len..." She began. "I don't like doing that horrible stuff to you, okay? I just don't want to lose my...um...friends and become a new subject of harassment." Len didn't reply straight away, so Miku kept talking.

"Besides," She continued, a small mocking smile on her face, "sharing a blanket with me? Isn't _that_ a little too nice, even for you?" Her tone was teasing, and Len huffed slightly, turning his head away so that she couldn't see, to his embarrassment and mortification, the slight blush tinging his cheeks red.

"Oh, shut up," He muttered back, "don't make me change my mind and take the blanket all for myself." She chuckled softly.

"You wouldn't do that."

"Oh, trust me, I would. This is a damn nice blanket," Without his consent, a devilish grin made its way to his face. "It's pretty tempting, really." She gave a small scoff, then a quiet laugh, much to Len's surprise. It wasn't one of those mean laughs she laughed when she tripped him on the bus, and it wasn't those obviously fake laughs she shared with her friends. Instead, to Len, this laugh was beautiful- pure, genuine. Her laugh itself was also beautiful, reminding Len vaguely of the sound of the wind softly rustling wind chimes, and overall, pure happiness. Before he knew it, Miku was the cause, again, for Len to become very, very slightly flustered. He was never good with girls.

He averted his eyes somewhere other than her. Her laughter subsided, then it was quiet once more before she spoke again. "To answer your question from before..." She trailed off. "I wanted to say thanks for getting that scarf for me. You really didn't have to." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, if I didn't I'd never hear the end of it," He joked. Miku didn't laugh. Instead, she was silent, wondering why exactly he would do this for her, of all people until she finally found the right words to carefully voice her question.

"I appreciate it so much, I really do..." She started, uncertainly. "But why'd you do it? I mean, I know you don't like me and I don't like you, so why?" Len was quiet for a minute, a bit stunned. He didn't like her and he very well knew that she felt the same way toward him, so why did it very, very vaguely sting when those words escaped from her mouth? Len brushed it off; he was probably still in shock from the events earlier from that day, causing him to act all weird. Besides, he was sharing a rare, serene moment with Miku Hatsune. It was only natural that he would let his guard down. It's not like this moment will mean anything, anyways. Once she got what she wanted, she'd just leave him and continue her cruel ways. Isn't that how the world works?

"I know it has sentimental value to you," He finally said. "The way you always have it with you, the way you're so protective over it, the way you seem so reluctant to give it to others to handle. I could just tell." Miku was quiet, but nodded eventually.

"Yeah, my older brother gave it to me before he parted with us to go to France," She mumbled, looking down. "I haven't seen him in nearly 4 years, but he calls and sends us letters, so I guess it's not all that bad." She shrugged. Len didn't know what to say- what _was_ there to say in situations like these?

"Oh." He ended up saying, awkwardly. After a few minutes of blissful silence, he decided to speak once again. "Plus, the scarf's pretty cool..." He admitted. Miku smiled.

"Didn't know you had a fashionable bone in you, Kagamine," She chuckled, then looked up at him with a teasing glint in her eye. "What else are you hiding from me? Are you in the closet?" She mused, despite Len's scoff.

"Bitch please, I'm as straight as a ruler."

"Yeah, maybe a bendy ruler that got stuck in an awkward position..." Len rolled his eyes.

"Jerk." He said.

"Bitch." She countered.

The air, which had been full of tension earlier, was now as light as a feather as they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"It's weird how I used to find you extremely obnoxious and repulsive about a week ago, and now I'm here, sharing a blanket with you," Len mused, unknowingly letting his guard down once again, and Miku smiled lightly.

"Yeah, I pretty much felt the same way." She said. "Only now, you don't seem as repulsive as before. Just by a little." She admitted. The blonde rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," He grumbled, although he secretly felt the same. Not that he'd admit it aloud. Not now, anyways. Maybe later. Like in a hundred years from now.

At the beginning of the day, Len's respect and tolerance for the tealette was down to 0. But it rose.

Just a little.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Len**_

I got into trouble because of my snarkier, snappier-than-usual mouth, and boy did I regret it. I didn't even know what came over me to talk back the way I did, to a person like Kaito. Perhaps it was because I was having a shitty day and my tolerance just dropped down to 0. It was a bad day. Not only did I get a few notes in my locker with hateful and unnecessary, uncalled for malicious words scribbled onto it, but someone- I know it sounds funny, but trust me, it really isn't- grated _fucking cheese_ into my locker as well. The lockers did have a sort of cheese-grater feel to it, though, considering that there were about 4 slits at the top of the locker that looked very…grate-ifying. It may sound amusing, but sweeping out so much cheese out of my locker (some of them were _moldy,_ for Christ's sake) was not a fun task.

Then, someone stole my lunch money, which meant that I had to starve. I had to tell Rin that I already ate- the poor girl didn't eat breakfast in a hurry to get out of the house in order to not be late, so she was starving, too. Trying to get Rin to steer clear from Miku's original group of 'friends' was getting harder and harder, since Rin was beginning to actually want to meet them. Miku's persistence didn't waver, but luckily it didn't escalate either.

P.E was even worse than usual, too. I blamed it on dodgeball, like how I usually do when I get hit in the face repeatedly with a ball. It seemed that everyone was targeting me specifically, aiming for either my face or stomach and throwing it as hard as they could, even when I was already out. The harassment in the hallways and such have been getting bolder, becoming frequenter and to the point of physical contact, although most of it was just shoving and 'playful' headlocks and such. Oh, and did I mention that I had to stay after school to help with some retarded dance? It was about an hour after school, and I'd volunteered to help out with the Winter Dance. How fun. Honestly, I wouldn't have done it at all if it didn't give out extra credit to those who helped. I desperately needed extra credit in P.E.

Anyways, so there I was, walking in the halls when suddenly, a blue-haired douchewad steps out in front of me. You guessed it- Kaito. "Yo, freak." He said. I walked past him. I tried to, at least. He stepped in front of me, blocking my path, my way home and my path to the couch and the T.V. "Not so fast." He chided. I scoffed.

"What do you want?" I sighed. "Seriously, I just wanna go home. We'll finish this tomorrow. You can hit me, steal my shit, yada-yada…the usual crap. So, if you'd _so_ kindly move..." He didn't move, like how I expected. Just fan-fucking-tastic.

"So," He said, flashing me a fake smile, not addressing my comments, "what do you know about Rin Kagene?"

"Well, I know that she's a girl. She has two eyes, a mouth, two ears, four, maybe five, who knows, limbs in total-"

"Cut the shit, Kagamine," He growled, eyes turning dark with anger. Kaito was always easy to anger, which was why I usually held my tongue around him. He was like a ticking time bomb, and usually I was the building that said ticking time bomb was planted in when he was having a shitty day. "What do you know about her?" I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"Lots of things. What, you don't look through her window at night, being the pervert you are? I'm surprised." I glanced at the door. I might make it if I ran...but then again, Kaito was the more athletic one here. Where did all of this nerve come from, anyway? Last I checked, if I treasured not getting the shit beat out of me like a piñata, I wouldn't dare speak to Kaito like this. "...At this rate, you'll never get her to go out with you. Of course, you're just all beauty and show. No brains, no worth, and a smile as fake as a Halloween mask. In fact, that's what you are. A mask. You look pretty and nice on the outside, and people are only attracted to you for this reason. But really, you serve no purpose other than for appearances, and you'll just be forgotten and thrown away like the trash that you are." I spat, not really pausing to think over what I just said.

That was when I pushed him too far, apparently. He scowled and cracked his knuckles. I held onto my backpack a little tighter as he stalked towards me, like a predator approaching prey. I gulped. _Shit. I fucked up real bad._ I watched somewhat helplessly as he drew his fist back. I braced myself for the impact. I _could_ do something, but I'd probably get fucked up even worse. On the other hand, if I didn't, then I'd forever be a pushover.

Fuck my life.

* * *

 **Miku**  
"I wonder where Len is?" I mumbled. I glanced at the clock. "It's been two hours since school ended. He said he should be home by four, but it's already five..." Rin frowned.

"Well, maybe...he's...um, maybe the decorating took a bit longer than expected?" She weakly offered. I chewed the inside of my cheek. What if something happened to that blonde fool?

"But for an extra hour? You'd think he'd call us...he's okay, he'd better be okay," I cringed at my words and the feeling of crippling worry I felt. Me, concerned? That, in itself, was a rather rare occasion. I knew everything and what was supposed to happen, and I always kept a cool head and an aura of confidence around me at all times. But here, my cool head has turned warm with- what was it, exactly? Fondness?- of the Kagamine, and my confidence had left me as soon as the clock struck 5 o'clock.

"Yeah, well...perhaps he forgot? To call us, I mean." Rin said. She wrung her hands on her lap. "Ah...what if something happened to him? I should probably call." She said, snatching her purse from the table and searching through it somewhat frantically. However, as soon as she wrapped her fingers around her cellphone and pulled it out of her purse, the sound of the door unlocking was heard. Rin's eyes, as well as mine, shot toward the door just as it opened and revealed a figure. The person wore a black hoodie, and the hood was up and covering the side of their face. Even so, I could tell that it was Len from the visible parts of the messy blonde hair and backpack. Only Len's hair was that messy and that bright- naturally, of course. It was rather amazing how someone's hair could look so vibrant and lively naturally. He set his backpack down next to the door gently.

"Len!" Rin said, relief seeping into her voice as she stood up. "Where were you? I thought you were supposed to be home at 4?" She asked, standing up. I stood up as well, casting a worried look at the male. Len didn't even turn to look at us, the hood still up and covering his face. That was already odd- I've never seen Len wear a hood before, and why wasn't he taking it off by now? Why wouldn't he face me- _us_?

"Um." He said. "I got caught up in stuff...so I think I'm gonna go up to my room now and do some homework..." He said before shuffling away, quickly. I narrowed my eyes, suspicion settling in my gut.

"Len?" I said once he was on the second step of the stairs. He stopped, but still didn't turn. "You're gonna do homework?" I asked.

"Yep..." He said, somewhat awkwardly.

"You forgot your backpack."

"Oh, I did? Well…the homework is online. I don't need my backpack and I have a laptop upstairs-"

"Len." Rin said, frowning. "Why won't you look at us?"

"Because Miku's ugly face'll turn me to stone if I turn around," He replied, a joking tone in his voice, which, as strange as it sounds, surprised me.

"Rude," I scoffed, letting a bit of playfulness seep into my voice. The corners of Rin's mouth tugged upward.

"But seriously. Why won't you look at us? What're you hiding?" She said. Len was quiet for a moment, then awkwardly coughed.

"Nothing at al- eh? What-" He started. I grabbed his shoulders, spun him around, and pulled his hood off of his head. If he wasn't going to show us, then I might as well see for myself, right? My mouth parted slightly in shock when his face was revealed. I heard Rin gasp behind me.

His jaw and left cheekbone was beginning to bruise, and his lip and left eyebrow were split. Dry blood stained the bottom of his lip, and his nose held traces of blood that looked like it was washed off not too long ago. His pale skin made the cuts and injuries more noticeable. Scrapes blossomed across his right cheek, and even his neck had a purple bruise, almost as if someone had grabbed him and- and _choked_ him. The thought was horrendous, even to Miku Hatsune, the girl formerly known as a tormentor of Len Kagamine. His pale, white skin was like a blank, art canvas, and someone had horribly, horribly ruined that canvas. The Kagamine himself, in fact, was like a walking display of art, and it looked like someone had wrecked it and ruined it completely. I would never admit it, but I did find Len…attractive. I would prefer it if nobody knew of my secret feelings, so nobody would ask questions. I looked at Len with a saddened look. My hand moved on its own and cupped his cheek as gently as possible. He flinched. "Oh my...Len, what happened?" I asked.

"Who did this to you?" Rin asked worriedly.

"Nobody! Nobody, I just..." He started, awkwardly. "I...ran into a pole."

There was a moment of silence at Len's bullshit excuse.

"You ran into a pole?" Rin said, skeptically.

"It was a pretty tough pole, and I tripped too..." I winced at a sudden realization; did Kaito do this? He had a short temper, and he was the main suspect, since he, for some strange reason, always seemed content in hurting Len. Oddly enough, despite the numerous times Kaito harassed Len, I felt an extremely strong surge of rage. How could he go this far? How dare he make so many painful marks?

Rin sighed. "I'll go get the icepacks or something. When I get back, I trust you'll come to your senses and tell me what happened so I beat someone's ass." She grumbled the last part as she left the room and I cast another look at Len, my eyes scanning over the treacherous wounds.

"Who did this to you?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I told you. I ran into a pole and tripped. That's all." He said it in a blank tone, nearly no emotion added in his voice. He took my hand, which was still on his cheek, held it in his for a second, then let go, and it hung limply by my side.

"Cut the shit, Kagamine," I hissed. "This is- this is serious! Who did this to you? Was it Kaito?" He didn't reply. He averted his eyes somewhere else- anywhere but me. I was right.

"That idiot," I growled softly. I saw Len perk up. He gave me a strange, if not cold and confused, look- _glare_ , even. The look he gave me made the hairs on my arms stand, and I felt an odd sort of chill run through my body- why was he looking at me like that?

"Why do you even care?" He asked. I refrained from gawking at him. He can't be serious. He thinks that he can just come home an hour late all beat up and expect me _not_ to care?

A side of me, though, was wondering the same thing, too.

"The fuck do you mean?" I asked, my voice sharp, puzzlement evident in my words. "You can't seriously think that I wouldn't care-"

"You didn't care five months ago." He stated simply. I bit my lip. I wanted to tell him that he was wrong- that I _did_ care, that I was just too much of a coward to show it in front of my…classmates. I wanted to tell him that I was always at least slightly concerned for his well-being, even when I was the one doing the damage. I wanted to tell him so many things, yet I couldn't find the courage within me to speak. He smiled bitterly- a type of smile that didn't belong on his face. I was used to him flashing obviously fake smiles at school, but now that I saw his real smile...

It stung and filled me with guilt and regret knowing that I was the cause of all this bitterness and pain and hate and anger inside him. I regretted not burning the bridges with my friends when I still had the chance, I regretted not standing up for him, I regretted participating in their game of torment and sadism towards him, I regretted so many things. "It's because of Rin, right?"

"Hu-Huh?" I asked, slightly startled, then the cold realization washed over me. "Wait- are you implying what I think you're implying? Do you really think that I'm doing all of this for show?" He gave a dejected chuckle, and that was like a confirmation to my fears. He really did, didn't he?

"Well... yeah." He said, looking up and giving me a broken smile. "That's what you do, isn't it? Do things for show for in order to gain approval from your peers? To seek out praise and respect?"

"Len...no. My concern for you is genuin-"

"It's okay, Miku," He said, flashing me a small, sad smile. "You don't need to feign worry for me anymore. I understand it must be hard to have to act like you give a shit about someone like me, but honestly, I'm going numb all over. The only reason why I'm still here, breathing and talking to you, is for Rin. So it's okay if I repulse you greatly. It's okay if your skin crawls just talking to me, because compared to you, I'm just a lowly, filthy peasant, isn't that right? It's fine. I'll find a way not to care anymore. It's okay. I'll stop caring. I'll stop feeling, somehow, and I'll become a better actor, too." He gave me one last small smile before turning around, most likely to walk away. Away from me.

 _I felt something in my chest. It ached, and it stung, and it_ _hurt._

Was this heartbreak?

Of course not. It couldn't be heartbreak, could it?

I wanted to hug him, to comfort him, but how could I do that when I couldn't even properly speak the words I wanted to say? How can I do that if my legs refuse to move? How can I do that if he thinks of me as someone he so desperately hates? My vision blurred.

And, in that moment, I foolishly realized that I actually deeply, deeply, _deeply_ cared for the Kagamine. I couldn't let go just yet, and I couldn't let him out of my grasp.

It happened so fast. I lunged forward, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around then immediately wrapping my arms around him in a tight embrace. The hot tears were streaming down my face freely and it became harder and harder to push the lump in my throat down. I buried my face in his shoulder. He was tense. He didn't move at all. I bit the inside of my cheek, managing to suppress a sob.

The scene was embarrassingly cliché and something out of a cheesy, poorly-written book. If I was thinking straight, I would have realized that. But for whatever, strange reason, I acted without fully thinking.

"Is that...what you really think of me?" I whispered, my voice cracking pathetically. "I'll admit that I always seek approval from others. That I'm nothing more than a coward too afraid of what people think of me. That I'm nothing more than a worthless, useless, selfish, cowardly child. You're right. But you're wrong about one thing. I-" I cut myself off, a sob tearing it's way through my throat as I gripped the back of Len's shirt tighter. He was still stiff, unmoving.

"I do care about you. My care for you isn't for show. It's…genuine. Even before, I still cared, even if I was the one inflicting pain upon you. I'm a weakling. I'm insecure. I crave for approval because I hate who I am. Say what you will about me, say anything, but just please don't say that I don't care." There was nothing but quiet, then slowly but surely, Len loosened up. He let out a small sigh, and before I could pull away in embarrassment and shame, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me cautiously and tenderly. I squeezed my eyes shut, burying my face further into his shoulder, probably staining his shirt with my gross, salty tears, but in that moment I couldn't help but crave the warmth and reassuring embrace of another human being. When was the last time I hugged someone genuinely, and vice versa? I forgot.

"I'm sorry." I croaked after a moment. My voice cracked as I spoke the next words. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for tormenting you for so long. I'm sorry for never finding the bravery within me to stand up for you. I'm sorry I never protected you. I'm sorry I couldn't shield you. I'm sorry for allowing this much pain to be inflicted on you. I'm sorry for being the way I am. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I felt like a broken record- all I kept sputtering were weak, cowardly excuses for my behavior, like a child. I felt Len's slender fingers stroking my hair, hesitant at first, before the cautious strokes became fond and, dare I say it, loving.

"Shh, it's okay," Len whispered as I sobbed as quietly as I could into his shirt. I knew that it was wrong- I shouldn't be the one crying here, and he shouldn't be the one comforting me. After all he's been through, shouldn't it be the other way around? "It's okay, it's alright. It's okay to be afraid of some things. It's okay if you couldn't protect me- I couldn't be protected forever. It's okay if you couldn't shield me. It's okay if you couldn't stop the pain, because it would've found me on way or another, inevitably. It's okay to feel remorse. It's okay. You're only human, and we are not perfect. It's okay to feel scared, hurt, but it's not okay to apologize for being you. Never apologize for being you. Everyone's selfish. Everyone's afraid at some point. Everyone's impure, but if we were all pure, we wouldn't be human. Flaws and blemishes are what _make_ us human. And that adds to the beauty of it all. It's okay to make mistakes."

As Len spoke, my sobs slowly ceased and eventually died out. I dared not to look at him, so I didn't. I kept my head on his shoulder, turning it slightly so I could get a little bit of air from the side. My eyes were no doubt puffy and red, and my nose and skin were no doubt blotchy and, like my eyes, red. I closed them, deciding to block out the light of the room. Len continued stroking my hair, not that I disliked it.

I don't know exactly how long we stayed there, in each other's arms. I know that we stayed like that after my tears had finally stopped pouring out of my eyes like a waterfall. We stayed like that after my gasping for air and hiccuping had gone away. We stayed like that after the tears dried on my cheeks.

We stayed like that in silence, not saying a word to each other.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Len**_  
I bit off the head of a dinosaur shaped chicken nugget somewhat disinterestedly. The food court in the mall was decorated with Valentine's day banners colored in pink and red, and cardboard hearts and cupids adorned nearly every store and food stand. Everywhere I looked, all I saw was red and pink. Frankly, the constant sight of Valentine's decorations began to tire me. They were everywhere. _Everywhere._

I cast a look around, trying to see if I could spot a head of blonde hair and a way-too-large white bow somewhere in the store. All I could really see were couples, at every table, giggling and feeding each other food and cuddling, their mountains of shopping bags next to them. I shuddered in disgust as I accidentally punished my poor, innocent eyes as I caught sight of a couple viciously making out as if they weren't in a public place, where everyone could see them. My mind wandered back to the thought of the Everest of bags that I dragged after Rin not too long ago. Valentine's day was not only a day celebrating the love a couple shared shamelessly in public, but it was also the day of discounts and shopping.

I wasn't really a fan of shopping, however. Just give me a T-shirt and pants and I'll be ready to go for the whole week. I chose not to subject myself to long lines and tiresome, endless hours of looking through an infinity of clothes that were either not my size or not my type. Rin, unlike me, loved to shop. The girl had more clothes than the laundry pile the BTS members in _Spring Day_ sat on, and yet she _still_ whined about not having anything to wear. How someone could have so many options and yet want to choose none was beyond me, but then again, I usually found out that girls could be rather strange and almost mythical creatures most of the time. Because there was always a huge sale for Valentine's day, the mall was usually packed with people (mostly girls with their unwilling boyfriends) and since it was Rin's first time back after a while, she decided to drag _me_ along so that I could serve 2 purposes. Those purposes were to hold her bags, because she was a "delicate, fragile, beautiful flower who must not be bothered," and to get discounts and help spend coupons. And, if you haven't figured out what that meant, it means that I have to pose as her... _boyfriend._

The thought was enough to make me want to puke, but since since the only options I had were to either go on a trip to an overly crowded mall with my sister or to not only kiss my manga collection goodbye, (I'm well aware that I could read it online, but it's just not the same as having a physical copy in my hands) but I'd also have to deal with Rin nagging me and whining about the missed opportunity to get a ton of things for a cheaper price for about a month. Compared to that, going to a crowded mall on Valentine's day wasn't too bad.

If you asked me, I thought the holiday was stupid. Don't get me wrong, it's totally fine if you think Valentine's day is awesome or something, but I hated it. It wasn't like I was bitter, because I wasn't. I couldn't care less about having a girlfriend at this point. It's just that the holiday seemed just too...over-glorified. It was originally supposed to be a dark and rather bloody day when the Romans first 'invented' the holiday almost unintentionally, but that's what I read up on when I had to do a project about Valentine's day's history. In all honesty, I think there was a time where I liked Valentine's day, but that was when I was in elementary school and only because I got free candy from my classmates. Now, however, there's no escaping the 'lovestruck' couples sucking face who will probably break up sooner than later and the bitter, lonely people who despised those who found happiness in their significant other and therefore tried to ruin the holiday for others or sulk about it.

The loud, ear-grating screech of a metal chair being scraped across the floor in front of me made me wince. I sighed, agitated that Rin took so long doing whatever the hell she was doing.

"It's been nearly 83 years, Rin. What- oh." I faltered once I realized that Rin didn't have long, teal hair. Miku crossed her arms and gave me a quizzical look. After the small incident involving her ending up crying into my shoulder for quite a while, which wasn't too long ago, moments when we were alone became excruciatingly awkward. I didn't know what to say to her anymore. Not in the 'I'm-done-with-everything' kind of way, surprisingly, but the 'I'm-scared-I'll-say-something-wrong-and-she'll-start-crying' and 'I'm-awkward-how-do-I-converse' kind of way. Normally, if it was about 3 months ago, I'd be spitting insults and words that sailors would use when they're not so happy at her. But, then again, that was long ago, and our relationship was terribly damaged. To this day, it's still damaged, but definitely not as much as it was back then. We were close to, dare I say it, being _almost_ friends. If you ask me, that's a big step.

"Er...hi." I ended up saying as she sat down in front of me. She propped her elbows on the table.

"Hey." She said. She eyed the food on my tray, hunger in her eyes. "You wanna share that?"I looked down at my food. Chicken nuggets, fries, and a bottle of water. Some might tell me that I'm too old for dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, but they're wrong. You could never be too old for dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets.

"...Yeah, yeah, of course." I mumbled, not really willing to share my food. Miku scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"This is about what happened right? Listen, I know I had a stupid little breakdown or whatever, but that was a one time thing." She sighed. "I was in a sensitive state when that happened for some reason, and it won't happen again. So stop being so nice and awkward. It's creepy, and it's weird. Be your weird, trashy self again."

"Really? I can do that?" I blurted, her words not even offending me. She knew I was trash. I knew I was trash. Why be offended by the truth? Miku rolled her eyes.

"Duh. Now, can I have some food?"

"Oh." I said. I looked at her hand, which was creeping to my fries, and slapped it away. "In that case, no." She scowled and leaned back, pouting.

"Damn it!" She cursed. "I should've let you be nice to me. At least then I wouldn't be starving..."

"I only let selected, special few people eat my food." I told the tealette firmly. "And _you_ aren't one of them." Miku glared at me.

"Pretty please?" She tried. "With a cherry on top?" I rolled my eyes. I never quite got what the whole ' _pretty please with a cherry on top_ ' plead really meant. Well...I understood the point of it, I just never understood how it originated.

"What the hell of a difference does a cherry make?"

"A big one, don't ruin it." Miku replied. I rolled my eyes and brought a fry up to my lips.

"What're you even doing here?" I asked, chewing on the fry. _How does a fried potato slice taste so good?_ I wondered. Miku blinked.

"Well, this _is_ the mall's food court, a public place in case you hadn't noticed." She replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I wanted to get outta the house and found myself here." She said, shrugging. Miku snatched a chicken nugget from my hand quicker than I can make a sound. I was about to protest, but as soon as Miku shoved the thing in her mouth, I sighed and decided that it'd be fruitless to scold her. "What about you?" She asked, her mouth full. I wrinkled my nose in disgust upon seeing the chewed up contents of what was in her mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full. It's gross." I muttered, ignoring Miku's mocking facial expression. "And Rin dragged me shopping with her." Miku raised her eyebrows and brushed a lock of teal hair away from her face. Her hair was down, today, rather than being in its usual twin tails. It was a strange sight. I've only seen her with her hair out of pigtails a few times. She's always had her hair up at school.

"Oh?" She said, grinning. "And how's that going for you? You know how long it takes for a girl to finally be satisfied when shopping..." I sighed.

"We've been here for 3 and a half hours..." I groaned. "I just wanna go home but she keeps telling me that she'll be done soon. She's also making me carry a bunch of coupons..." Miku took a fry from my plate. I looked after my fry longingly as she ate it.

"Coupons? What do they have to do with anything?" Miku asked.

"I don't want them to go to waste." I said, simply. If I had coupons I could never stand to not spend them all. I didn't know why, but not spending it all just bothered me so much. "Jeez, where's Rin?" I grumbled, looking around for a large white bow present on a head of bright blonde hair, "she should be back by now..." I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, indicating that I've received a text message. A rather shocking feat, considering that I have no friends.

It was a text from Rin.

 **Heyo, bro. I had to take care of some business and left. You still there?**

I scoffed lightly, staring at the tiny screen in disbelief. She just ditched me. The least she could've done was told me, long ago, that she was going to leave.

 _Why'd you go without me? And we have so many coupons left. I don't know what to do with them._

 **throw them away or something. Or just spend it all on other stuff, go crazy, ig.**

 _Fine._ I texted back. Putting my phone in my pocket, I looked back up to discover Miku eating nearly all of my food. She dropped the half eaten chicken nugget she was holding immediately once she saw me set my gaze on her. I scoffed and pushed my tray towards her.

"Fatass." Miku glared at me as she stuffed the chicken nugget in her mouth.

"Shut up! I'm not fat!" She snapped.

"You're stuffing your face with chicken and fries as we speak."

"So?!" She snipped. "I can always lose the weight later." I raised my eyebrows. The thought of exercising and going on a diet to maintain weight didn't sound too appealing. I could never do that in my free time. Too much work, too little time, and zero will to get off the couch.

"But is it really worth it?" I asked. She opened her mouth and I put my hand up. "Actually, don't answer that. Just hurry up and eat. I just wanna get shopping with you done and over with." Miku raised her eyebrows.

"Eh? We're shopping?" She said, munching on a fry. "What about Rin? Also, when did _I_ get included in the equation?

"She ditched me." I told her. "You gonna shop with me or not? I've got far too many coupons and time on my hands, and I doubt you even have a date today."

"When have I ever said no to shopping with a cute boy?" She chuckled. For a moment, I had to process what she had just said. Surely she must be mocking me. I studied her for a few minutes, and when she continued to relentlessly and shamelessly eat the food that I originally bought for myself, I realized that she was actually, surprisingly, being _serious._ A burning, raging fire set my face aflame, no doubt causing my cheeks- no, entire _face_ \- to look scarlet.

"W-Wait, what...?" I asked weakly. She looked up at me and raised her eyebrows, then smirked triumphantly.

"I called you cute. Get some hearing aids, grandpa." Miku snickered, shooting me an evil look. I sputtered nonsense, my brain completely going into shock and forgetting how to function properly at hearing what she had to say about my looks. "Ah, look at how embarrassed you are! You must be so flattered to be called cute by a goddess like myself!" She cooed.

"I'm not!" I snapped.

"Your cheeks are red."

"From...anger."

"Anger?" She asked, amused. "Why?"

"Because you won't hurry up and eat your damn chicken nuggets."

* * *

"Hatsune," I groaned as I dragged the surprisingly heavy load of bags forth, "freshen my memory, why am I carrying all _your_ bags?" The tealette simply shot me a sweet smile as she dug for her house keys. Night had fallen long ago- that's how much time we spent at the mall. The sky was dark and cloudless, letting the stars twinkle brightly. The moon was only showing half of its' luminous, bright side. It was almost like a scene from some cliche, romantic movie.

"Because it's not polite to make a lady carry such heavy and so many bags!" She said in a scolding voice. I scoffed.

"You're a lady?" I sarcastically mumbled. She punched my arm and opened the door to her house. "Don't make me drop these bags, ape woman!" I called after her, rolling my shoulder uncomfortably. Either that girl was abnormally strong, or I was incredibly weak. It was most likely the second one. I waddled in and kicked the door shut behind me.

I made my way to the living room and set the bags down near the couch. I let out a small groan and rubbed my sore arms. I had no idea that carrying so much clothes could be so tiring and so heavy. I exhaled loudly as I looked at a clock on the wall. It was nearly 10:30. I began to walk to the door when Miku's voice rang out.

"Leaving?" She said. I nodded.

"Obviously. Why else would I be at the door?" I asked. She scoffed.

"Smartass." She mumbled. "Hmph. Whatever. Where'd you put the bags?"

"Couch." I answered. Miku gave a small nod.

"Alright." She turned to walk away. She paused. "Thanks for today." She mumbled. I blinked, a bit surprised that she was thanking me. All I did was take her shopping. I shrugged, dismissing it as Miku just being plain weird. I walked out the door, and it closed behind me. I was just about out of her driveway when I felt a nagging sense of something missing.

Then I stopped.

There was something I was forgetting- what was it? I paused and dug into my pocket and immediately remembered. Jogging back to her front door and ringing the doorbell impatiently, I waited for her to answer.

She opened the door after about a few seconds. She tilted her head when she saw me. "Eh? Back so soon?" She said, raising her eyebrows. "Forget something? Or did you just wanna see me?" She grinned and I scoffed.

"In your dreams," I muttered, digging into my pocket and taking out what I intended to give her. It was a necklace with a silver chain and a cute little leek charm pendant hanging from the middle. I held it out to her and she hesitantly took it.

"Huh?" She said, looking at me, a small smile on her face. "How did you...?"

"Saw you eyeing it in the store." I answered. "That's all I needed to give you. Bye. Happy Valentine's day." Before I could embarrass and surprise myself further, I ran off, leaving the tealette and her home behind me. I didn't exactly know why I included the 'Happy Valentine's day' part at the end, considering I wasn't too crazy about the holiday and therefore never uttered those 3 words. And yet, somehow, February 14th of this year felt different.

We spent nearly the whole day shopping and, despite my dislike for shopping, found myself enjoying every single minute of it. Even the couples that were too... _affectionate_ with each other didn't bother me as much as they used t.

I wonder why.


End file.
